Colts seem to be leaning towards playing Riley Leonard in Week 18, but should the Philip Rivers experience really come to an end
The Philip Rivers experiment with the Colts seems to be coming to an end, but if you ask me, I say give him one more week.
If you read the tea leaves, it sure seems like the plan is for Philip Rivers’ time as the starter to come to an end following the Indianapolis Colts’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17. The team had already been eliminated from the playoffs ahead of the game, thanks to the Houston Texans’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
The team spent all week practicing with Rivers as the starter. He took all the first-team reps, which led them to give the future Hall of Famer the start in Week 17. All signs point to that not being the case in Week 18, as the team prepares for the future. Personally, I would disagree with that decision because, in reality, Riley Leonard won’t be considered to start next year anyway.
If Philip Rivers is willing to play in Week 18, he should be the Colts’ starter, but that doesn’t seem to be the plan
The Colts’ choice to sign the 44-year-old QB was met with understandable criticism and even laughter by some. He has proven them right, though, due to his masterful understanding of how to play the QB position with his mind, even though his physical shape is not ideal.
He has played better than anyone expected him to, and he’s done something even more important down the stretch. He’s kept fans engaged and entertained in a team that was eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday, but their season truly ended the moment Daniel Jones tore his Achilles.
As I said earlier, Leonard won’t be considered as a starting option in the future. Therefore, there are only two reasons I would go away from Rivers as the starter in Week 18.
The first being if Anthony Richardson were all of a sudden cleared to return, which doesn’t seem likely. The second, which could be the actual reason, is that Rivers doesn’t feel the need to play meaningless football and would prefer to be done after today.
If this is truly it for Rivers, I speak for all Colts fans and the team as a whole when I say it’s been a pleasure watching him put the helmet back on and play quarterback again. It truly doesn’t feel like they make quarterbacks like Rivers anymore, and watching him dissect a defense and use his mind to win reps was an incredible ride that I’m thankful to have experienced.
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